I think many of us have done a " Goodbye Cruel Website ", or been tempted to.I would swallow your pride and think again Sarah.I would consider the content of your posts and ask yourself what it might be that irks people.Something many of us have had to do, certainly I have.I would concentrate on two things in particular..one is your assertion that you remember past lives...This comes across as needing to push your credentials. As needy in fact.The other isyour habitof making things sound significantby the way you phraseyour posts.This amounts to wearing a "Kick Me " sign around your neck.

I hope you will stay. You have unique experiences to share.. as we all do.

Simon E. wrote:I think many of us have done a " Goodbye Cruel Website ", or been tempted to.I would swallow your pride and think again Sarah.I would consider the content of your posts and ask yourself what it might be that irks people.Something many of us have had to do, certainly I have.I would concentrate on two things in particular..one is your assertion that you remember past lives...This comes across as needing to push your credentials. As needy in fact.The other isyour habitof making things sound significantby the way you phraseyour posts.This amounts to wearing a "Kick Me " sign around your neck.

I hope you will stay. You have unique experiences to share.. as we all do.

I think you misunderstand Simon.

I've spoken about my past lives, because I think it's important that people see that laypeople have these come up too.

I feel very strongly that it's important to speak about these sorts of things and other aspects of spiritual or kensho experience.

I think it helps demystify the idea that these are somehow "extraordinary" or "unheard of."

I think it's very important to do that, because it helps make them less scary. I say that because from my own experience, it made it less scary for me, my first time something like that came up, to know I was not the only one, and know that someone else had talked about it before. I think that's very important.

Past lives are not "special" Simon. I think it's important to talk about them, and to be open to answering questions about them.

I also think it's important to have the courage to speak the truth about things, as best one understands it, and not be held back by fear of what others may think of it.

I have no intention to stop doing that, or change the way I write.

Part of the reason I'm leaving has to do with the fact that I'm starting to get into business school pretty intensely, and so I just don't have the time that it takes to commitment to threads and discussions any more. They eat up a lot of my time, and thought, and I just don't have it to spare any more. I actually do put a lot of time and care into my posts. And I don't really have that time to give anymore what with school kicking off and all.

But, you know, I've never really been a "community minded" person. And, at the end of the day, I feel the need to just do my own training, and let other people do theirs.

It's not pride Simon, I'm just done. I feel like I've hit a limit to how much energy may be good to put into this. At least for now.

sorry i missed this last nighthope it's just a hiatus and not a permanent "goodbye".

most of my forum experience has been foreign language or martial arts related and my experiences have generally been very positive.i even met some of my best friends in real life from the martial arts related forums.didn't start reading Buddhist discussion forums until mid way through last year and it's been a definite learning experience.i've never gotten as angry, hurt, or upset during online discussion as i have on Buddhism-related forums.i can really understand the need to take a break, especially if online discussion bleeds into real life and even your practice.i've actually thought of quitting altogether numerous times as a result; sometimes even going so far as to consider quitting Buddhism altogether.at the same time, I've received a lot of advice and encouragement on Buddhism-related forums and I'm in debt to those folks who've helped me out.it's become easy for me to seek out confrontation online and it's a habit that I know i have to break.have to remind myself that it's okay not to mix it up sometimes and that it's okay just to stick to threads & viewpoints that are non-confrontational.

understand that you've gotta weigh the pros and cons to see if something's actually benefiting you or not.wish you all the best and hope things work out.

I've had a couple conversations on here that made me tempted to leave for good, i'm glad I stuck around, there is good here, even if it's sandwiched with frustrations sometimes. Just look at it like sitting, sometimes negative stuff happens because practice is working.